Department of Communication Disorders, University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Am J Audiol. 2021 Dec 9;30(4):941-955. doi: 10.1044/2021_AJA-21-00021. Epub 2021 Sep 7.
The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced lifestyle changes that may negatively impact communication, including the pervasive use of face masks and videoconferencing technology. Here, we examine the effects of age and self-rated hearing on subjective measures of speech understanding via a survey accessed by adults residing in the United States.
Responses to an online survey were obtained from adults (21 years of age and older) during the summer and fall of 2020. The survey included questions about hearing and speech understanding in a variety of scenarios and different listening conditions, including when communicating with people using face masks in quiet and noisy environments and when using videoconferencing.
Data from 1,703 surveys were analyzed. In general, the use of face masks led to the perception of poorer speech understanding and greater need for concentration, especially in noisy environments. When responses from all participants were considered, poorer self-rated communication ability was noted as age increased. However, among people who categorized their overall hearing as "Excellent" or "Good," younger adults rated their speech understanding ability in noisy situations as poorer than middle-age or older adults. Among people who rated their overall hearing as "Fair" or "Poor," middle-age adults indicated having more difficulty communicating with people using face masks, as compared with older adults. Examination of open-ended responses suggested that the strategies individuals use when communicating with people wearing face masks vary by age and self-rated hearing. Notably, middle-age and older adults were more likely to report using strategies that could put them at risk (e.g., asking others to remove their face masks).
Even younger adults with self-perceived good hearing are not immune to communication challenges brought about by face masks. Among individuals with similar degrees of self-rated hearing, the expected increase in communication difficulty with age was not noted among our respondents.
新冠疫情带来了生活方式的改变，这些改变可能会对沟通产生负面影响，包括普遍使用口罩和视频会议技术。在这里，我们通过一项针对居住在美国的成年人的在线调查，研究了年龄和自我评估的听力对言语理解主观测量的影响。
在 2020 年夏季和秋季，通过在线调查收集了成年人（21 岁及以上）的回复。该调查包括在各种场景和不同听力条件下的听力和言语理解问题，包括在安静和嘈杂环境中与戴口罩的人交流以及使用视频会议时的情况。
对 1703 份调查的数据分析显示，一般来说，使用口罩会导致感知到的言语理解能力下降和需要更加集中注意力，尤其是在嘈杂环境中。当考虑所有参与者的回答时，随着年龄的增长，自我评估的沟通能力变差。然而，在将整体听力自评为“优秀”或“良好”的人群中，年轻成年人在嘈杂环境中对自己的言语理解能力评价较差，而中年或老年成年人则不然。在将整体听力自评为“一般”或“较差”的人群中，中年成年人表示与戴口罩的人交流更困难，而老年成年人则不然。对开放式回答的分析表明，个体在与戴口罩的人交流时使用的策略因年龄和自我评估的听力而异。值得注意的是，中年和老年成年人更有可能使用可能使他们面临风险的策略（例如，要求他人摘下口罩）。
即使是自我评估听力良好的年轻成年人，也无法避免口罩带来的沟通挑战。在自我评估听力相似的人群中，我们的受访者没有注意到随着年龄增长而预期的沟通困难增加。
